The Final Battle
by Lady Idhril
Summary: A strangely forged friendship between Draco and Hermione adds an odd twist to the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort. Sequel to my oneshot The Hidden Grove. Part Two of The Secrets Trilogy.
1. Secret Meetings

**A/N**: _This is Book Two to The Secrets Trilogy. It is a sequel to my one-shot fic "The Hidden Grove." You should read that before you read this because this picks up right where that one left off._

_Please read and review. Person with future hopes of becoming an author here! Critical reviews and opinions are highly wanted. Thanks all._

**Disclaimer**: _None but the plot be mine. Thank-you for not threatening to sue._

_Special THANKS to my "nitpicker" Becca. You are one of a kind sweetheart!_

**The Final Battle**

**Chapter One**: Secret Meetings

Hermione paced the edge of the glen, awaiting Draco's arrival. It had been one week already since she'd caught him spying on her. June had just begun, and things had gotten rather complicated in such a short amount of time. Voldemort seemed to want to attack Hogwarts for the final battle between him and Harry, and it was difficult to find some time to escape to the glen. Of course, Hermione no longer went alone: she always had Draco to go with her. But trying to plan a convenient time between them to go was nearly impossible.

There were all sorts of rules about wandering the grounds, or even the castle, now that the final and most dire stages of the War had begun. Students were instructed to stay in the common room from eight o'clock onwards now that exams were over. They'd already lost a few students to the War. Ernie Macmillan's family had been attacked in their home the summer before their seventh year began. His body was the only one recovered, lying spread-eagle in the kitchen, a victim of the Killing Curse. Colin Creevey's little brother Dennis had been kidnapped the summer before Colin was to start his fifth year. He'd gotten his Hogwarts letter with a Prefect badge, and the next day his brother was gone. They'd never found his body.

But the new rules on Hogwarts didn't stop students from trying to have a little fun. Ron had all sorts of tricks and treats from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where his brothers were racking in good business even during the War. Ron and Ginny would hand out sweets and jokes all night, selling them for half price, seeing as how they were discount items. Even Harry would join in on some nights, although he was still moody and irritable. Ron and Hermione rarely saw him with all the training Dumbledore was giving him, but it gave Hermione plenty of opportunity to snatch his Invisibility Cloak from his trunk and disappear off to the library.

Today though, was a warm Sunday afternoon, the weekend following their last NEWTS examination. Draco and she rarely had any long amounts of time to talk, and he'd been nagging her at late nights in the library to set a time for them to go to the glen and talk again. But now that examinations had ended and the new rules had been set up, they were finding it as hard as ever to even get a minute of each others time without anyone getting suspicious.

For the last week, Draco had been acting like a ghost, pulling Hermione into hidden corridors behind tapestries in the blink of an eye. It had scared Hermione at first, not knowing who was grabbing her. She'd automatically reached for her wand, but Draco had turned her towards him, and she'd merely slapped him on the arm. After awhile she'd gotten used to it, and flowed with his movements into the darkness of wherever he happened to pull her in that particular moment.

Suddenly, she heard a twig snap outside the glen and halted, her balance poised and her body alert. A flash of silver hair through the foliage told her that Draco had arrived. She calmed down, turning so that she faced him when he entered.

"We're you followed?" she whispered, as soon as she saw him at the entrance.

He shook his head and peeled off his robe, laying it on the ground next to hers. The summer days were warm, and it looked as if he had run here. "No one followed me, but I had to hurry to get away from Goyle before he could ask questions. You're really bad with sending me messages on when to meet you here. Why the urgency, anyway?"

She answered him with a straight face. "I Binded Harry's and Ron's legs to the chairs in the common room. The spell will only hold for two hours. They weren't really aware that I'd done it since they were playing chess, but when they go to move they won't be too happy. Those chairs are too heavy to travel."

Draco nodded, accepting this answer from her no matter how un-Hermione-ish it sounded. But when he looked at Hermione again his face was stern. "Have you told them?" he asked.

Hermione shrunk away, taking a few steps backwards and fiddled with her hands. "Oh, Draco…you know it's not easy. And you've seen Harry lately, he snaps at everyone and he's constantly training, and Ron _always_ sides with him and -"

"I asked for a simple answer, not another one of your usual excuses," Draco remarked. Hermione cast her eyes downward. "But I have seen Potter's temper flare more often lately," he continued softly, so she'd stop looking so guilty. Then he added, "I miss tormenting him, you know."

Hermione smiled, laughing to herself quietly. "Well, neither him nor Ron have figured out that you're absent from their daily list of annoyances. I'm glad you followed my instructions."

"I'd never meddle with the smartest witch in the school. I might lose my gorgeous hair."

"You're so vain," Hermione retorted. Draco flashed her one of trademark smirks. He sat down then on top of his cloak and propped his body up with his hands behind him. Hermione followed suit a minute later, folding her legs at her side and using her hand as leverage.

"You do plan on telling them though?" Draco asked, sounding a bit worried. "Before the War begins, right?"

Hermione turned her head and looked at him. "Of course…but they're not going to take it well. It's so hard to get them to even pay attention to me, because they think I'm going to nag them about their study habits."

"You do though. You're always nagging." Draco put up an arm in defense against her swatting hand.

"I do not nag!" Hermione retorted. "Besides, it's Harry and Ron. Someone needs to remind them to complete their homework!"

"That's nagging," Draco replied, shrugging in indifference.

"Oh, quiet you," she shushed. Draco smirked at her reply, but strangely didn't say anything back.

In the past week they'd only been able to visit the glen together once on a particularly gloomy Wednesday after their Charms Exam. So instead of the glen, they'd met at late nights in a back corner of the library, although this offered less privacy than they were looking for. The library was where Hermione had studied during the week of N.E.W.T.S examinations. Harry and Ron always retreated off to the common room at earlier hours anyway, so she was left to her own devices. Draco would stroll in and head down the aisles of books to where she always was. And then they'd talk until Madam Pince would scold them for being up so late.

The first time Hermione had found Draco standing in front of her table in the wee hours of the night she'd been quite alarmed. She'd forgotten for a moment that only yesterday afternoon he'd discovered her grove and she'd let him inside. Now, here he was again, standing before her, confusing her senses and making her uneasy.

It took Hermione a moment to drop back to earth and act normal. "Either sit or stand, the choice is yours of course," she told him as he stood over her table, blocking her light and glaring at her parchment of notes.

Draco didn't say anything, knowing he had caught her off guard by finding him here. With a smirk upon his face, he pulled out the chair across from her and sat down in it, lounging his legs underneath the table.

"Always here at this hour of the night, Miss Granger?" he drawled quietly.

Hermione paused in what she was writing. She raised a single eyebrow and eyed him curiously. The way he had said her name was peculiar, but better than the other names he used to call her.

Draco snatched one of her spare quills and twirled it in his fingers. He tickled the tip of his pointy-nose with it, staring out the starry windows of the early morning.

"How the bloody hell can you stay in the library _all night_?" Draco rasped. Hermione slyly grinned as Draco continued his little tirade. "There are so many boring bed-time stories you'd be bound to fall asleep in no time. But you - you're always in here, and you're always awake."

"Jealous are we, Malfoy?" Hermione didn't look up to see the single arched eyebrow on his pale face. She continued scribbling across her parchment, the noise of the quill making Draco's eyelids droop. He tried to stifle a yawn, but failed miserably. Hermione, noticing his struggle to hide the yawn out of the corner of her eye, smiled.

"What are you doing here anyway, Draco?"

Draco's eyes widened, but not enough to give away his surprise. He hadn't just heard her call him by his proper name, had he? He asked, just to make sure. "You just called me Draco…didn't you?"

Hermione paused. Draco eyed her, refusing to take his eyes off of her. Slowly, her quill was lowered and her eyes were raised to look at him. Her face was expressionless. Draco's were questioning. Neither of them said anything for a moment.

Finally, Hermione shrugged. "So?" And then she leaned back over her parchment and continued scribbling.

Draco pondered this for a moment. So they were on first name terms. Since when? She was still the smart, studious witch he'd always referred to as Granger the damned Mudblood. Of course, minus the "Mudblood" part now. But she'd - Hermione - she'd just called him Draco. No more surname basis? He'd been shocked enough by her allowing him entrance into her grove. Either she was more trusting of people than she ought to be, or she saw something trustworthy in him that he sure couldn't see.

Struggling to remain his demeanor, he began fiddling with her spare quill again, rustling the brown plumage across his check in an absentminded fashion. Hermione paid him no mind until she looked up and found Draco leaning back in his chair fast asleep. The quill was still poised underneath his lip, his hand against his shoulder, the other listlessly at his side. Hermione stretched her leg out underneath the table and found his legs beneath her own chair.

Smiling to herself and trying to hold back her laughter, she attempted to tap his knee and awake him. But he wouldn't budge. Nudging him harder with her toe, she hoped this would work. Alas, it didn't. She didn't want to get up and shake him, but he seemed to be deep into his slumber. She was tempted to call to him, but didn't know if she should try it with Madam Pince already angry because she spent such later hours here.

No, instead Hermione settled for rising from her seat to manually awake the damned Slytherin. She'd make him regret falling asleep! Tip-toeing to his side of the table, she stood next to him a moment, watching his breathing go in and out slowly, his chest barely heaving, and his lips opened ever so slightly. Leaning in closer to his face, she carefully placed both of her hands just above his shoulders, barely touching him. Then in the blink of an eye, Hermione pushed Draco over the side of the chair.

It would have worked perfectly if Draco hadn't awoken so startled and had grabbed Hermione's wrists in shock. As he fell, he took her with him, both of them landing on the floor in a heap of robes. Little noise was made, thankfully, even though the floor was flagged stone and the chair had traveled with them, too. Draco landed awkwardly on his right side, and Hermione lay bent over his waist, her ankles wrapped around the legs of the chair that were no longer resting on the ground.

Draco blinked several times, attempting to understand why he was suddenly sprawled on the cold floor. Then he saw Hermione, her brown hair all over her face. Of the few facial expressions he could make out, she looked both surprised and outraged. When she had finally managed to crawl off of him (the chair made it difficult), and had pushed her hair back, she glared at Draco, who continued to stare innocently at her.

"What happened?" he asked. He honestly had no idea what had just transpired.

"You fell asleep." Hermione began to straighten out her robes.

Draco blinked again. "On the floor?" he asked, somewhat stupidly.

"_No!_" she huffed, untangling her foot from Draco and the chair. "I pushed you."

Draco should have been mad that she dared push him off of a chair while sleeping, but then he realized he'd already gotten even with her. She must have pushed him and he must have taken her with him on his fall, which is why she looked so displeased.

Draco had no time to begin laughing though, because Madam Pince came around through an aisle of books and saw them on the floor like that. Jumping to conclusions, she screeched at them to get out and find somewhere else to behave like children.

Throwing all of her belongings into her bag, Hermione and Draco departed, leaving a very disgruntled librarian to slam the door behind them, regardless of the late hour. They took one look at each other and at their disheveled appearances and the silent laughter began.

But just as quickly they departed, because footsteps were heard coming from around the corner. Draco grabbed Hermione's arm and pointed to a tapestry. Without words, she got the hint and ran behind it, snaking her way through the passage way and reappearing two floors up. When she emerged, she found Draco hot on her heels.

"Filch," was all he said. Hermione nodded, and suddenly began giggling again when she noticed Draco attempting to stifle a yawn. He gave in as well, and in good humor he rolled his eyes. Looking back down the passage way they had come, Draco snatched a giggling Hermione and steered her away.

"Where's your common room anyway?" Draco asked after they had turned a few corners.

Hermione had stopped giggling now, and, clutching her bag tighter, she looked at Draco seriously. "I'm not telling you," she said.

Draco shouldn't have been surprised by this, but he was. "And why not? How else do you expect me to lead you safely back to your common room if I don't know where it is?"

"You're a Slytherin," she said simply, as if this explained everything.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked.

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks, forcing Draco to halt suddenly so that he had to turn around and look at her. She had an odd look on her face, but what was really peculiar was the war going on behind her eyes. It was if she'd just now begun to register what had happened between them in the last two days. She seemed to be evaluating what to do and if she should trust him. In her heart, Hermione knew that, as strange as it was, she _could_ trust him. It was the thought of Harry and Ron that made her leery, and how'd they react if they found Draco Malfoy outside the portrait hole one afternoon.

"Yes Draco," she said, "I do trust you." Draco looked relieved to hear these words, but knew there was more. "It's Harry and Ron I'm worried about," she continued.

Draco eyed her questioningly. "Would you tell them?" he asked quietly.

"What?"

"Would you tell - Potter and Weasely about me...you and me - as friends?"

Hermione thought this through for a moment. "Of course. Although I doubt they'd take it well. Even though your father…" Hermione paused, unsure of how to continue with that statement. "I'm - I'm sorry," she apologized, noticing the odd face that Draco had made at the mention of his father.

"Don't be," Draco interjected, quickly trying to cover what Hermione could only guess to be disgust. "He's dead, serves him right."

Both of them were silent for a moment. Hermione remembered when she had found out about Lucius Malfoy's death back before their sixth year at Hogwarts had begun. She'd gotten her Daily Prophet delivered to the house over the summer and had seen it broadcasted on the front cover. There was no mention of how he had died, and she wouldn't dare ask Draco. She'd seen him come back to school after the incident and he'd seemed changed, more cold and cruel, but also forlorn and abandoned. Hermione still wasn't sure how it had affected him.

"I…I know," she said quietly. "But Harry and Ron still wouldn't give you the time of day…we both know that. Even now that - even though your father is…is gone. It's simply childhood hatred, born from too many old stereotypes that won't go away. They still don't think you've seen the error of your ways. They assume you're just like your father."

Her words lingered in the air. Draco was silent for a moment, letting this sink in to his head. His eyes faced the wall, unwilling to look at Hermione for some reason. Her friends thought he was just like his father…even after everything that had happened since You-Know-Who came back. It shouldn't surprise him, nemesis' made in childhood were the most difficult to get rid of.

"Come on," Hermione said suddenly. She took a step towards Draco and grabbed the sleeve of his robe. "My common room is this way." And she promptly started dragging him in the other direction.

He followed willingly; they climbed a few staircases until they were on what he supposed was the seventh floor. Hermione stopped him in the middle of a corridor, looked around suddenly, and then pointed at a portrait.

"The entrance is behind that portrait - see the one I'm pointing to? See the fat lady in the pink dress? Yes, the gold framed one. That's the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. Now leave." And she began pushing Draco the other way towards the staircases.

"What?" he asked.

"You didn't think I'd let you hear our password, did you? Time for you to go, I can walk the rest of the way. It's bad enough you know where our entrance is!"

"Well excuse me for being polite Hermione, but I didn't want Filch or his mangy cat to find you."

Hermione either tripped or stumbled, Draco wasn't sure which, but he heard a _thump_ and the hands on his back disappeared. When he turned around to investigate, he saw Hermione sprawled on the ground, looking up at him with a bewildered expression of surprise.

"You really should stop trying to push me if it's going to end in these results," he drawled, bending down to hoist her back up to her feet. She reached an uneasy hand out to him, accepting his help. Once on her feet, she looked at Draco with her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"Did you...you…did you just call me Hermione?" she stuttered.

It was now Draco's turn to eye her curiously. "You called me Draco earlier, didn't you?" he retorted.

"Yes," she said quickly, "but that was different." She still looked shell-shocked with her unruly hair even more out of place and her robes all crumpled from her multiple falls to the ground.

"And how is that different?"

Hermione looked at his face. "I…it…I don't know, it just is! You're Draco Malfoy! You have always called me some derogatory comment. You've rarely ever referred to me by my _last_ name! And now - now, you just called me Hermione!"

Hermione finished off her charade with a few well meant deep breaths to regain her composure. Draco was smiling amusingly.

"Are you going to go back to the library now to look up the answers to your new riddle?" Draco asked, somewhat smugly. Hermione let loose on him by playfully swatting at his arm a dozen or so times. In the end, Draco was able to grab her wrist and nudge her as gently as he was able in the direction of her Common Room door while he departed for his.

"Don't think just because you now know where the Gryffindor entrance is you can hang out here all you like, Draco."

Draco smirked. "I wouldn't dream of it," he drawled sarcastically.

"Good. Because we both know Harry needs to let his bottled-up anger out on someone. You'd be asking for it if you dared come near him. We both know it would do you well to follow my advice and leave him alone. But it's a lot to ask of you to leave both my friends alone, isn't it?"

Draco merely winked, a silent promise that he'd try his best even though he'd perfected his technique long ago on the best strategies. He began walking away, still not taking his eyes off of Hermione. "When are we going to meet in the…you know - when will we go there again?" Draco asked before he headed down the stairs to his own Common Room.

Hermione began to turn away, but looked back once more and a slight smile was playing on her lips. "Owls are awfully helpful, aren't they?" And before Draco could utter another word, she ran up to her common room entrance, whispered the password and was admitted inside.

Draco meanwhile, continued to stand alone in the hallway.

"_Hermione?__ Earth to Hermione_…" drawled Draco, waving his hand slowly in front of her eyes.

Hermione blinked, falling back into herself and remembering that her current state of body was still in the grove with Draco. Not directing her eyes at him, she mumbled a quick "sorry."

"You should be," he retorted. "I've been sitting here talking to myself for these last ten minutes. It's rude to space out like that when someone is speaking to you."

Hermione turned and rolled her eyes at him. "I'll warn you the next time I decide to let my mind wander," she remarked sarcastically.

Draco surprisingly, decided he had no more to say on the matter. Instead he leaned forward, his grey eyes fixed on her in a serious matter. Hermione had seen that look in his eyes before. When she'd found him in her glen, he'd appeared to have taken off his cold and nasty exterior…but his eyes. They showed so little emotion that it was nearly impossible to read him.

_Eyes are windows to the soul_. Hermione had heard that expression once before. But Draco was a major exception. He must have had plenty of practice at hiding his true feelings. Only on rare occasions was Hermione able to understand a little of what was going on inside his head. Harry and Ron were so different - they showed their emotions in all sorts of ways. Draco on the other hand, he hid his deep within. Hermione figured it was taught to him as he was growing up. But there had been a few rare moments when she'd looked at him and had seen more.

Draco was fidgeting, something Hermione knew he rarely did and could only mean that he had something he wasn't sure how to say. So she waited patiently, watching him in an amused manner.

"What are you going to say to them?" he finally asked. His question was serious and his eyes sincere - that much was readable.

"To Harry and Ron?" she asked. Draco gave a slight nod. "I'm going to tell them the truth."

At this Draco's eyebrows arched up. "You may be the smartest witch at Hogwarts, but are you sure that's a wise decision?"

"They're my friends! Of _course_ I'm going to tell them the truth!" Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, wondering why he'd say such a thing. It had been his idea that she tell them in the first place.

"So you're going to walk up to Potter and Weasley and tell them that you caught me spying on you, we yelled, we raved, and then we buried the hatchet?"

"Well when you say it like that -" Hermione began.

"They hate me, remember?" Draco added.

"They do _not_ hate you." Hermione exasperated.

"I'm pretty sure Weasley does."

"Well if he did hate you he'd have a good reason! All you do is make fun of him!" She was grinning at him, knowing this was a losing battle.

"What, and you think Potter ignores my insults? He's not made out of rock you know. Although he does seem to be as dumb as one." Draco ducked backwards as Hermione's hand took another playful swat at his head.

"I will tell them, Draco, I promise," Hermione said, looking at Draco seriously. "Not just because you want me to. But because they're my friends and they deserve to know. I must admit I've been very bad about telling them things about me."

"Well I'm sure they'll be delighted to know that you and I have been sneaking off together to discuss friendship in a private and secluded place."

Hermione huffed. "Do you want me to tell them or not, Draco?"

Draco looked back at her, his face flax of emotion. "I'm just as worried as you are about how they are going to take this. Of course, they can just lock you in a closet and keep you from bad, bad boys forever. But me - they'll hang me by my toes and feed me to a chimaera."

"And here I thought you had gotten over your childhood fazes," Hermione muttered sarcastically. "When will all of you grow up?"

This time there was a certain look of pain Draco's pale grey eyes. Hermione immediately wished she could take back what she said, but Draco spoke before she did.

"Your friends will never trust me Hermione. We both know that. I will stop teasing them for your sake, but that doesn't mean I've gotten over wanting to annoy the living daylights out of the two of them - it's just been too much fun over the years. We all grow up in our own time…and in our own way."

Draco didn't say anything more, and they sat for a while in silence. In one week, Hermione had befriended Draco, trusting a man who had been her enemy for almost the last seven years. This was a man who had called her derogatory things, who made fun of her friends. A man…was he man? Hermione glanced at him. He sure didn't look like a little boy anymore. There was an angry coldness, something that reminded her so much of his father. But slowly she saw that it was beginning to melt, and that a person was actually living within. There was a maturity beginning to emerge.

But some things just don't change. In one week, Hermione knew that Draco would always hold back emotions, would always wear a façade, and would continue to be a cold and unreachable man unless he gave in to it. Hermione knew she'd seen a softer side of him, a side of him that was trying to get out. It hadn't been her imagination when she'd found him in her glen - he had been showing emotions, feelings that he wasn't aware he had even been feeling.

Hermione knew she couldn't find her answers in the library this time. Her and Draco were lost in this together, both of them attempting to understand what had happened one week ago. Draco had scared her then, coming into a hidden place, a sanctuary of hers…and she had accepted him. Draco had also surprised her in other ways. Hermione looked at him in different situations and saw a different person in each. Draco played a game, a test to see who could see through his disguise first. The winner received the man behind the mask.

But Hermione hadn't even played the game, and Draco had come into her glen and shown her.

"It's getting late, Hermione. We should go back," came Draco's voice from beside her. She glanced at him, watching as he stood up and retrieved his robe. He put out a hand to help her up and together they exited the glen, carefully looking around to see if anyone was nearby as they hid the evidence of their stay with their wands.

As they walked side by side on the trail, Hermione felt Draco's hand come up to rest on her back, a protective and kind gesture she was sure anyone would have done. But she knew he did it because they were alone and because he wasn't aware that he had done it. When the trail joined another trail that led back to the castle, they stopped.

"You go first," Draco replied. "I'll follow in a little bit. Hurry though, it's starting to get dark and your friends will wonder why you aren't at dinner. Go on."

Hermione stood there, a smile upon her lips as she nodded at Draco's demand. She started walking, and when she reached the hill, she turned back for one last look over the lake. Draco was half hidden in shadow, his silver hair reflecting the lakes rippling surface. In the blink of an eye though he was gone, having ducked back into the shadows to hide, knowing that she had seen him. Hermione turned and ran up to the front entrance, eager to find her friends.

**A/N: **_Well? Please review! The second chapter should be out as soon as I'm done with it. Thanks for reading!_


	2. Attempting the Truth

**A/N: **_Thank-you everyone for the reviews on my first chapter! Enjoy this one!_

**Disclaimer:** _I own only the plot. Yup._

_Again, a special THANK-YOU to my wonderful "nitpicker" Becca! You annoy and help me all at the same time like no one else can!_

**The Final Battle**

**Chapter Two: Attempting the Truth**

"Why does Malfoy keep staring at us?" Harry asked as he, Ron and Hermione walked down to the Great Hall for dinner later that night. Draco was standing in the entrance hall, talking quietly among Grabbe, Goyle, Pansy and some of her Slytherin girls.

Hermione had made it back to the common room with enough time to avoid questions from her friends. Ginny though, had watched as she ran by on her way to her dormitory and had commented that she had pieces of grass stuck in her hair. Hermione made up a quick lie about having to chase down Crookshanks, but Hermione wasn't too sure Ginny believed her.

Ron was eyeing Draco evilly after the remark Harry had made. Draco indeed, was staring at them, quite intently too. "Because he's a lousy git, that's why," Ron replied to Harry's question, as if this was common knowledge to everyone. Hermione rolled her eyes as she walked between the two boys.

"He is _not_ a git," Hermione retaliated quickly. She cast Draco an apologetic look, wondering if he could hear everything they were saying as they walked by. Draco, bless him, kept to his promise and said nothing. He did follow them into Great Hall though, walking not too far behind.

"His father was a Death Eater, Hermione," Ron argued. "You don't need much more proof to label yourself a git."

"His father was killed by Voldemort -" Ron shuddered as they sat down at the Gryffindor table - "and just because his _father_ was a Death Eater, that doesn't automatically make Draco one, too. They aren't one and the same person."

"You could have fooled me," Ron mumbled.

Hermione chose to ignore him. But as she reached for the pitcher of iced pumpkin juice, she noticed Harry was looking at her funny. "What is it Harry?" she asked as she poured the pumpkin juice into her goblet.

"Did you just call Malfoy, _Draco_?" Hermione's hand paused on its way to put down the pumpkin juice pitcher.

"And why are you sticking up for him all of a sudden?" Ron added.

Hermione took a long sip from her goblet. She swallowed hard, knowing that she had a clear opportunity right now to tell them both the truth. She could tell them right now and have the row take place in the middle of the Great Hall and have Draco witness it and everything. It wasn't one of her most brilliant ideas, but she couldn't hold off on telling them forever, could she?

"You don't pity Malfoy all of a sudden, do you Hermione?" Harry asked, a drop of anger already apparent in his tone of voice. That was enough to make Hermione completely change her mind. She'd have plenty of time to tell them both, when they all weren't under so much stress. Time was short, yes, but so was her life - and she didn't feel like throwing it away just yet by having her two friends hang her in the Great Hall.

"I - well, I just think he's going through some hard times," she said, racking her brain for a steady and liable excuse. None were coming to her quick enough though. As was her luck.

"Yup. You do pity him," Ron said, settling the matter. Hermione sighed, shaking her head and advising herself not to say anything. It was better that they make up their own excuses.

"Where were you before dinner anyway, Hermione?" Ron asked suddenly. It seemed he wasn't done tormenting her further. "We couldn't find you in the library or in the common room. Where'd you go off to?"

She was again stuck without a good excuse and no time to think up one. "I…umm, I was - I went for a walk."

"You know we're not allowed to walk around the grounds by ourselves, Hermione," Harry scolded.

"I wasn't alone. I was…I, umm, I was with Gin-"

"Don't lie and say you were with my sister," Ron interjected, "because we found her and she didn't know where you had gone to either." Hermione was starting to get angry. It shouldn't be so hard to tell them the truth, but when they played Twenty Questions with her it wasn't helping the situation!

"For your information, I wasn't alone!" she said loudly through clenched teeth. Harry continued eating, but Hermione could tell he didn't believe her. Ron however, remained persistent.

"Then who were you with -?" Ron began, but Hermione interrupted him.

"It's none of your business," she snapped. And with that, Hermione took a last bite of food with her fork and left the table. Inside her head she was screaming at herself for what had just happened. She should have just told them and gotten it done and over with, that would have been the most sure fire way to get them rattled up. She knew Draco had witnessed that, but she refused to look in his direction. His eyes would be on her, and he would not be happy at all.

If Hermione was honest with herself - completely honest - she knew that Harry and Ron would rave. That was a given fact for anyone who knew the history between them all. Harry and Ron would be none too happy that she was being friendly with Malfoy, let alone spending time alone with him. She'd have to find a way to convince them, to persuade them to trust her judgment…

As she was about to climb the stone steps to her common room, a pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders, and Hermione felt the familiar sensations of being pulled from behind into the closet in the entrance hall. Once she was surrounded by the smell of polish and cleaning wax, Hermione spoke.

"I'm sorry Draco." These were the first words that left her mouth once she was enveloped by the darkness of the confined space. In an instant though, a light was coming from Draco's wand, but she didn't look up. She decided staring at the floor was better than seeing Draco's eyes.

"What was that all about anyway?" he asked, but his voice was strangely gentle. Hermione wasn't expecting this tone of voice; she had figured he would be accusing and slightly angry. This forced Hermione to look up a little, although her eyesight went no higher than his collar.

"Hermione…"Draco said, and again his voice was different. One of his fingers came under her chin and lifted her eyes so she was looking at his face. The first thing Hermione noticed was that his eyes weren't angry, and his face actually looked amused.

"Harry and Ron's faces from far away were priceless," he said. Hermione was confused by these words.

"But, I didn't tell them Draco…"

Draco actually smiled, if you could even call it that. A corner of his mouth lifted, and Hermione didn't recognize it as his trademark smirk. "I know you didn't. But they looked awfully confused." This made Hermione smile.

"They were pestering me. And I had a good opportunity to tell them, but -"

Draco stopped her. "I know. I used to pester them myself. It's not easy to not get annoyed by their stupidity."

"Draco," Hermione said warningly. But she looked away again.

"Patience Hermione," Draco murmured. "I know you'll them in good time."

"You wanted me to tell them before the War began though," Hermione stated matter-of-factly. "I need more than patience if that's the case."

"I won't burden you to tell them until we're both sure that _they're_ ready to hear it. But this just might be the thing that will enable Harry to fight like a man," Draco joked. Hermione couldn't help herself a smiled a small smile.

"I better get going Draco," she said. As she put her hand on the door handle and turned it, she turned back and asked, "Did anyone see you follow me out?"

Draco gave his trademark smirk. "Well, actually, _you_ followed _me_ out. I could tell you were liable to storm off in a huff. And I was right." And with these final words, Draco pushed open the door so that Hermione stumbled out.

Hermione knew better than to look back at the door she had just emerged from. Instead to eyed the entrance hall to see if anyone had seen her. When she was satisfied that it was empty, she gave a slight kick to the door in which Draco was hiding behind and walked up the stone steps. She went slowly, making sure her feet made enough noise for Draco to hear behind the door. Counting each step, she looked back at the door when she got to the top and saw Draco emerge quickly and stealthily. Without a glance anywhere, he made his way back to dinner.

"_We're going to have to stop these secret games if I ever plan on telling Harry and Ron_," Hermione thought to herself.

Continuing on her way, Hermione began thinking again about how she was going to tell her friends. Draco was right - it wasn't going to be easy. Harry and Draco deserved the truth, but they needed to be told at a time when they wouldn't go into hysterics about it. And she couldn't tell one and then the other - they'd reprimand her for not telling them at the same time.

Truth be told, this was a difficult task. And with no idea of when the final stages of War would begin, Hermione knew she was hard pressed for time. She'd have to tell them within the next few days, if not sooner. Tonight wouldn't give her much time, she knew that. Right after dinner Harry would be meeting Professor Dumbledore for a one-on-one practice lesson. Harry had been going since their seventh year had started, learning some more in-depth teachings and training methods. Harry always came back late and exhausted, and usually more irritable than he had been. Hermione knew he was stressed not just by lack of sleep and piles of homework, but also from the threat of Voldemort heavy on his own shoulders. Dumbledore worked him hard now that he was older and more aware, and simply because time was short these days.

Giving the password to the Fat Lady, who was already celebrating the end of another year early with her friend Violet, Hermione scrambled inside the common room and sat down in an empty chair before the fire. Crookshanks was meandering around under tables, and when he saw Hermione, he perched himself on her lap and purred as she scratched behind his ears.

Hermione glanced at the table where Ron and Harry had played chess earlier. She chuckled to herself, remembering how she had Binded their legs so that she could escape to the glen for awhile. The moment had worked perfectly. Pigwidgeon had come into the common room, happily delivering a letter to Ron, and as Ron read the letter, Hermione wrote hers and sent it off to Draco. She knew she'd have plenty of time before dinner, and Ron and Harry would just think she was running off to the library again. After the letter was sent, she did the spell on their legs and left, leaving them to their chess game.

Apparently, neither of them had noticed she'd done it, even though she'd come back before the spell had worn off. They'd still been sitting there, quite intent on the game. The memory made Hermione smile.

"What's so funny, Hermione?" Hermione turned and saw that Ginny had come back from dinner.

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing…I was just thinking."

Ginny sat down in the armchair next to her. She continued to peer cautiously at her friend, who was absentmindedly petting Crookshanks now.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Ginny asked. Ginny noticed that Hermione had a far away and puzzled look on her face. She seemed to be deep in thought. "You've seemed to be in another place ever since exams ended. Is anything bothering you?"

Hermione looked up, studying the red-haired girl curiously. Ginny looked concerned, and Hermione wondered if Ginny would understand her dilemma, or if Ginny would be just as unpredictable as Harry and Ron. When she didn't say anything though, Ginny spoke up again.

"Is it about Harry and Ron?" she asked, her voice slightly lower since people had started returning from dinner. Hermione glanced at the chess table again, staring at it as if her two friends were actually sitting there and playing at the moment.

"Yes…and no," Hermione answered. Ginny looked innocently perplexed, but didn't prompt Hermione for answers right away. Instead, she sat there waiting to see if Hermione would continue, which she did. "How do you tell your two friends something that they may not like, but you promised someone you would tell them?"

Ginny's face became passive and concerned. Hermione continued to stare at the chess table. Neither of them said anything for a few moments, until Ginny piped up another question.

"Well…what is it that you have to tell them? How bad is it?"

Hermione gave a short laugh. "Bad enough that they may never let me out of Hogwarts castle until I'm eighty-two."

Ginny let out a low whistle. "Your best bet Hermione would be to just let them find out on their own. Remember when you wouldn't tell either one of them who you were going to the Yule Ball with?"

Hermione thought about this for a second, but just as quickly the idea left her head. Ron and Harry weren't too swift on matters such as that. They were good at picking up when something was different, such as when Hermione had had the Time Turner and hadn't told them. But her two friends could never figure out anything completely on their own, never without her help. To this day they still forgot that you couldn't Apparte or Dissaparate on Hogwarts Grounds.

Ginny could tell that that idea wasn't working for Hermione. "Well, I know Ron has a way of over-reacting. Just tell him flat out and get it over with. Try telling Harry when he hasn't just had a bad day."

The most truthful information had helped Hermione the most. She herself had known that there was really only one way to tell her friends, and Ginny couldn't have said it better. Turning away from the chess table, Hermione smiled at Ginny and said, "Thanks."

"Not a problem Hermione," Ginny replied. "If you need any more advice you know I'm here." Ginny began to pull a book out of her bag when Hermione spoke up again.

"Actually," she began, cautiously thinking of how she wanted to word her next sentence. "It's about a boy -"

"I figured it would be when you said my brother and Harry wouldn't let you out of the castle until you were old." Ginny placed the book on her lap. "And it must be a boy they don't happen to like." Ginny eyed Hermione with a devilish smirk and knowing glint in her eye.

"It's so much easier said than done," Hermione complained. "We're just friends. Well - friends by complete accident. Ok, maybe it wasn't an accident; he did follow me, but then -"

"Shush, Hermione." Hermione looked at Ginny, and then snapped her mouth shut, looking to see what the red-haired girl had to say. "This guy obviously wants you to be honest with Harry and Ron. So just tell them. Tell them separately if you have to, although that's only if you must - one of them is bound to tell the other before you get the chance."

"That would give me more of a nightmare if that happened," Hermione murmured. She was leaning forward in her chair, elbows on her knees and chin in hand. Ginny could feel the stress coming off her friend in waves.

"First, you will need to calm down if you plan on telling them anything," Ginny replied, a soft laughing sound to her voice. Hermione immediately sat back in the chair and took a deep breath, and then another. "They are your _friends_ Hermione, not executioners!"

This mad Hermione loosen up and laugh. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. They may _really_ kill me once they find out…"

Ginny leaned over and patted Hermione's shoulder. "The boy in question may have a harder time escaping their wrath than you will."

Hermione's eyes suddenly changed, and she looked at Ginny with a serious expression on her face. "I hope they don't hurt him," she said to her, her voice soft and full of confusion. Ginny didn't know what to say for a moment. Hermione looked scared, but she had another look in her eyes, one that Ginny had never seen there before.

"He's a strong man," Ginny replied gently, keeping her hand firmly on Hermione's shoulder. "He's also very clever. He'll outsmart them if they even try to lay a finger on him."

Hermione smiled comfortingly, and leaned over the arm of the chair to hug Ginny again. They sat in comfortable silence for awhile, Ginny having finally opened her book. Hermione went back to petting Crookshanks until Ron and Harry came back from dinner.

"I just don't get it…" Ron mumbled as he and Harry came in through the portrait hole. Both Ginny and Hermione looked up, watching as both of the boys came striding towards them to sit down upon the only chairs left around the fire.

"Don't get what, Ron?" Ginny asked. She averted her eyes back to her book.

Ron leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hand. "We were just wondering -" but Ron ceased talking when he saw that Hermione was sitting with Ginny. "Nothing," he said instead. "So Hermione," his tone odd from what it had been a second ago, "where were you before dinner? Who were you with?"

Hermione blanched, although it was hardly noticeable. Ginny turned, and her eyes were a little wider. She looked curiously at Hermione's reaction.

Trying to recover quickly, she said to Ron, "That is none of your business."

Harry leaned forward in his seat, his eyes serious behind his glasses. "Actually, it is Hermione," he said. He seemed to be losing his patience, of what little he had left. "We're worried about you. It's not safe out there."

Hermione knew she should be grateful for their generosity. She also knew she should tell them now. Yet, when she saw the condescending looks on both the boys' faces, and their lack of trust in her judgment - it made her balk. She knew that deep down both of them cared a great deal. She had to look past the exterior and remember that she'd known both of them for years.

Sighing, Hermione said, "I appreciate you both caring about me, but I know it's not safe. And I wasn't alone; I was with a trustworthy individual."

"Then why can't you tell us?" Ron demanded. He sounded hurt, but he also sounded confused. Not like she could blame them, really. She wasn't being very helpful with information.

"Ron," Hermione said, giving him a serious look, "both you and Harry would lock me up in Gryffindor Tower forever if you knew."

"Then how is this person trustworthy if we would try to keep you away from them, Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione shook her head, aware that they weren't getting the idea.

"You both don't trust him," she said, trying to sound patient. "But I do."

Ron looked pleased. "So it's a guy!" he said. "You said we don't trust _him_! You've been wandering around the grounds with a guy and you can't tell us who it is?"

"It's not that I _can't_ tell you Ron -" Hermione began, but Ron interrupted again.

"Well then why _won't_ you Hermione? What type of guy is this that you can't tell your two best friends? He must be a raving lunatic or something!"

"I already told you he's trustworthy, so don't call him a raving lunatic!" Hermione remarked scathingly. "You're so typical and judgmental! It's just a guy!"

"This isn't like you Hermione," Harry intervened. He looked quite upset and rightfully angry, but Hermione knew telling both of them right now wasn't a good idea. They were already too riled up and jumping down her throat for answers that they'd only get angrier. She knew she shouldn't be putting it off; she had to have patience and tell them when _they_ were ready.

At that moment Ginny spoke up, her voice steady and loud enough to break the tension.

"I think I'll go read upstairs," she said simply, standing up from her chair and giving a sympathetic look towards Hermione. "Good luck telling them," she replied gently, and then took her book and headed towards her dorm.

Ron watched his sister go and then turned on Hermione. "You told my sister who you've been seeing, but you can't tell me or Harry?" He looked genuinely angry about this, and Hermione was unsure how to respond at first.

"I didn't tell her who I -"

"Then why did she wish you luck?" he demanded loudly. He was sitting on the edge of his chair, leaning towards Hermione with his hands firmly on the armrests. Harry was leaning back, eyeing Hermione questioningly.

"I didn't tell her who the guy is!" Hermione began quickly before Ron could intrude again. "She offered advice! That was all."

Ron moved further to the edge. "What kind of advice?" he asked.

Hermione let out a quick breathe and then replied swiftly, "girl advice. And _that_ is truly none of your business!" she snapped finally.

"Why is everything about you none of our business?" Harry remarked back, the harshness to his voice making Hermione jump back a little. Crookshanks, who had still been lying across Hermione's lap, gave a giant leap away when Hermione startled. Hermione looked about, seemingly confused but also taking in what Harry had just said.

"Harry, I -"

But Harry kept right on talking, giving Hermione no time to explain. "If you're going to keep secrets, fine then. You've been like this for weeks, disappearing on us and going off without telling us where you're off to. This isn't like you Hermione. Why can't you just trust us?"

Hermione felt generally awful. Then anger on Ron's freckled face and the glare that Harry offered lessened the anger but made her choke up, knowing what her next words to them were going to be.

"I do trust you," she said softly, unable to find her voice. Looking down, she continued. "But you're both not ready for the truth."

Both of the boys exchanged quick glances at one another. Harry's eyebrows knitted together, and he looked much angrier than he did before. Ron's mouth was slightly open, as if he didn't believe what Hermione had just said.

Suddenly, Harry stood up, making Hermione jump back again. Ron did as well. "I'm late to see Dumbledore," Harry said coldly, his eyes on Hermione. He looked at her for a minute, a disbelieving look on his face, and then turned to Ron, said good-bye and left out the portrait hole.

"Look what you've gone and done now!" Ron said hotly, jumping up from his seat. He was towering over her now, looming over her seat, and Hermione felt her anger rising again.

"He wouldn't have left so angry if you and Harry would just understand!" she replied angrily, also standing up to face Ron.

"Understand what Hermione? You won't tell us anything! You're keeping secrets!"

By now, the two of them had gained the attention of all whom were in the common room. But Hermione and Ron failed to notice their audience around them in the now hushed room.

"I have good reason for keeping quiet about my secrets!" Hermione remarked. Her voice was shaking with repressed anger and tears from Harry's stinging words earlier. "You both need to understand that you have to trust me!"

"How can we trust you Hermione when you go sneaking off with some guy and you won't even tell us who it is?" Both Ron and Hermione were shouting now, the occupants of the room glancing at one another in alarm and hoping McGonagall wouldn't come in to see what all the fuss was about.

"You wouldn't believe me -"

"Well we don't believe you now either, do we?" Ron interrupted. Hermione was too angry to continue this conversation any longer. She took a single deep breath, and then pushed past Ron on her way to the portrait hole. "Where are you going?" he asked.

But Hermione didn't answer. She didn't even look back. She was headed towards the library. The Fat Lady said nothing when she saw Hermione striding down the hall, fists clenching and unclenching and her breath ragged as if she'd just come back from a long run. Down the secret passage she went, attempting to swallow her bad thoughts and quench her anger. She failed though, as a single tear slipped down her check and dropped onto her collar.

She strode into the library, receiving an angry look from Madam Pince for banging the door. Not caring, Hermione rounded a few book shelves, and then came across who she was looking for: Draco.

He was sitting at their usual table, leaning back in his chair and fiddling with the spare quill he'd taken from her. His legs were stretched out underneath the table as usual, but when he saw Hermione and the tears that had forced themselves out, he jumped out of his seat so quickly he upended it. Draco did not know how to deal with crying females.

They both stood still for a moment, Draco eyeing her warily as if waiting for her to explode as Hermione stood there, sniffling freely. Finally, Hermione sat down rather hard onto a chair and cried loudly. Draco, still completely unsure of what to do, kneeled down slowly next to her chair and placed his hands on her arm. He let her cry for awhile, knowing what had happened and not the least bit surprised she'd come running here to find him. He'd figured she'd show up sometime during the course of the evening, but he hasn't expected her to be in hysterical tears.

Finally, Hermione choked back the rest of her sobs, transfigured the quill Draco stole from her into a handkerchief, and dried her eyes.

"They're both absolutely impossible," she complained. She sniffled again and dabbed at her slowly drying eyes. "They don't like that I'm hiding things from them. They don't trust me."

Draco continued to kneel beside her, quiet and strong, his hands on her arm in as much of a comforting manner as he could muster. Hermione hadn't accepted anything more from him; she'd just needed to release her frustrations.

"I'll tell them, Draco, I promise I'll tell them," she said as she performed a drying charm on the wet handkerchief. "But they aren't ready for the truth. Or at least neither of them was ready to hear it at that moment. I don't think they'll ever accept that I am a girl and have more feelings than they can even begin to fathom."

Hermione realized that Draco was still awfully quiet, and looked down at him beside her chair. He looked the way he always did; emotionally collected and calm. He was being her rock at the moment, almost as if it were an instinct to him. This made Hermione smile, and she leaned back in her chair and relaxed, taking his fingers from her arm and holding them in her own hand.

_(scene change...)_

Hermione was dreaming, only the dream she was having was a memory from a few days ago. She was following Harry and Ron out of a gruesome Potions class where Snape had assigned a horrible essay on the importance of asphodel that was due next class. Hermione watched as Draco walk out of class ahead of her; she was wary that he'd try to snatch her from thin air again. The wink he had given her had indicated something was going to happen.

The trio was on their way to dinner in the Great Hall, climbing the dungeon steps hurriedly so as to get first dibs on the good food that house elves provided; Hermione though was lagging behind the boys. There was a secret passage coming up soon, right before the last set of stairs into the Great Hall. The passageway was on the left. Like a pro, she faced away from it so it was easier for her to be grabbed and quickly.

In the next moment, she felt hands circle her waist and drag her into the passage way behind a tapestry. One hand quickly came up and covered her mouth, listening to Harry and Ron's voices slowly fade away, completely unaware that Hermione was no longer following them.

"Does Snape always have to be the worst one with homework?" Ron was complaining. "That paper will take all week, it will."

"Between him and McGonagall, I don't know who is worse," Harry said. Their voices were getting quieter when Draco released his hold from her mouth.

"Library tonight?" he asked swiftly, not turning Hermione around to face him. She nodded her head once.

"Well we could ask Hermione for help on the essay, couldn't we?" Ron was saying. Hermione stiffened, hoping they wouldn't turn around and see that she'd disappeared. But of course such wasn't her luck. "Hermione?" Ron asked. "Hermione? Where'd she go?"

Their voices were still far away, and in another instant she felt Draco's hands on her back and pushing her back into the corridor. Ron and Harry had already turned the bend on the stairs so they didn't see her stumble into the hallway, although a couple of first years did. She fled past them, pulling her bag higher on her shoulder.

"Where'd you go Hermione?" Harry asked when she reappeared. She stopped, panting for breathe on the bottom step.

"Yeah," Ron said. "We thought you were right behind us."

"I was," Hermione said, pretending to have run a long way to catch up with them. "Sorry, I was behind you, but I had to -"

"Move it Granger, you're in my way," came a drawling voice from behind. Hermione looked as she felt Draco brush by her arm. He had stopped to stand on the stairs between her and Harry and Ron. Ron was looking at him with the deepest loathing. Harry, on the other hand, was looking back and forth between Hermione and Draco with a curious look.

"Leave her alone Malfoy," Ron was saying. "Just move along."

"I'm going Weasley. But not because you told me to." He cast Hermione a look, one that the boys would interpret as scathing, but one Hermione knew meant otherwise.

"Hermione, come on. Let's go up to dinner," Harry was saying. Draco was still looking at her, an odd look on his face. Hermione was simply staring at him, her expression not one of loathing or anger, but more as if she were fascinated.

Draco smirked. "Aren't you going to follow your little friends, Miss Granger?" he drawled. Ron clenched his fists and Harry grabbed the back of his robes in a hurry. He narrowed his eyebrows at Draco, curiosity coursing through his mind.

"I said move it Malfoy," Ron growled, tugging on Harry to let go of his robes.

Draco said nothing. He stared at Hermione for another moment or two, and then he slowly walked off. He looked Ron right in the eyes with a straight face and a smirk as he passed.

"Come on Hermione," Harry said quietly. He was still clutching the back of Ron's robes to keep him from running after Draco and pummeling him. Hermione followed as if in a daze, watching Ron fume with seven years of repressed anger. Harry, on the other hand, kept passing curious looks at Hermione. Looks that means he knew something was going on but he couldn't fit the pieces together perfectly.

Hermione jumped up in her sleep.

It took a moment for her to regain herself and remember that it was a memory. She had been dreaming of what had happened a few days ago, before she had asked Draco to meet her on the grove.

The look Harry had given her had been the same look he'd given her earlier today when they were arguing in the common room. He was observant enough to guess, less ignorant than Ron really, but still…not brilliant enough to figure it out entirely on his own. But he might not be so surprised when she finally told him. This of course meant that Ron would be the stick in the mud.

Hermione pulled her watch off the nightstand to check the time. It was just after four in the morning, and she was certain she'd never fall asleep again. She'd had trouble falling asleep with her conscience as screwed up as it was already. Draco had been helpful in the library, very quiet and understanding. He hadn't offered unneeded advice. He'd merely listened.

Deciding to go down to the common room, Hermione quietly opened her trunk and pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt. She threw her school robes over everything, and exited after putting her wand in her pocket.

The common room was quiet, and she didn't see anybody right away until she looked by the window and saw Ron. He was lying on a sofa and appeared to be asleep. Hermione wondered what he was doing down here, and decided that despite the argument they'd had yesterday that she'd ask him. Walking quietly towards him, he awoke when she got close, and Hermione stopped, watching as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

"What are you doing down here?" he asked groggily once he'd spotted her. He was dressed in his robes just like she was. Hermione wondered if he'd ever gone up to bed.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she answered quietly, taking a few more steps closer. Ron moved over on the sofa, but Hermione made no move to sit.

"I was waiting for Harry to come back from his lesson with Dumbledore."

Hermione blinked. "You mean he still hasn't returned?" Ron shook his head, his eyes a little more focused.

"What are you doing up? What time is it anyway?" Ron asked.

"It's almost four," Hermione said, now leaning her body on the back of a lone chair. She began to wonder why Harry hadn't returned when Ron spoke up again.

"Where'd you go earlier, Hermione?" he asked quietly.

Hermione let out a quick sigh. "I told you Ron," she said, "I wasn't wandering around the grounds by -"

"No, I meant where'd you go after our - after our row in the common room earlier," he rambled quickly. Neither of them looked at one another.

"Oh." Hermione began fiddling with her fingers. "I went to the library," she replied.

For some reason this made Ron laugh quietly.

"What is so funny about that?" Hermione asked, seemingly offended. Ron continued laughing for another moment before he seemed to contain himself and answered her.

"You always go to the library," he said simply, and this seemed to settle the matter. Hermione smiled softly as Ron chuckled on for a few more moments. They stayed in silence, both becoming lost in their own thoughts. Hermione could see that Ron kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. He still looked half asleep, yawning every once in awhile. His hair was sticking up in odd directions, his robes were wrinkled, and he looked thoroughly haggard. Hermione assumed he hadn't gone up to bed at all.

"Hermione," Ron began after their long minutes of silence. His voice was soft and questioningly, and she wondered what he'd be asking her.

Hermione turned to look at him, trying not to be skeptical. "Yes?" she replied evenly.

Ron looked as if he was unsure of what to say. "Why can't you trust me and Harry?" he asked, and his voice was so quiet Hermione was unsure she'd heard him correctly at first. She looked away and then walked towards the window, watching as early grey light began to show in the morning sky.

"I do trust you both," she replied, but Ron stopped her again.

"Then why won't you tell us?" he asked, and his voice no longer sounded angry, but desperate. Hermione closed her eyes, knowing that her friends were only doing what they'd always done for her, and that was to look after her well being.

She opened her eyes slowly and exhaled. "Ron," she began. "Both you and Harry are my friends. I know you both better than you think. I promised myself I'd tell you when you were ready. And earlier I knew you weren't."

Ron seemed to take a minute to let this sink in. When he spoke, his voice was still soft, unlike how it usually sounded. "We want to trust you Hermione, but when you tell us things like this and hide things from us we feel offended. I care about you Hermione."

Hermione clung to these words for a moment. She was unsure if she'd ruin this perfectly calm moment by telling him now about her and Draco, but he seemed to be ready to hear it at four thirty in the morning, even considering how much sleep they'd both gotten. Ron cared about her, and this made Hermione feel guilty as well as loved. They were her friends and she had ever right to be honest with them. She knew deep down she wasn't being fair. Hermione continued to argue with herself, only slightly aware that Ron had begun talking again.

"I want you to know Hermione," he was saying, "that you can trust me. Both me and Harry, we're your friends. I want you to trust me, and I - I really want you to prove that…"

But as Ron continued talking, Hermione eyes were trained on the coming dawn. The sky was dusky and dark still, with a little light appearing on the horizon. And on that horizon were moving shapes. Figures were moving, and as she watched more and more began appearing. They were dark and silhouetted against the near-morn. And there seemed to be masses of them, almost as if they were an army preparing for…

It was then that Hermione understood why Harry had never come back from his lesson from Dumbledore. Vaguely Hermione was aware that Ron was still talking and that more and more people were grouping together on the horizon that seemed so far away from their no-longer protected tower.

"Ron," Hermione said, her voice a breathless whisper from the shock. "Ron, they're here. Voldemort and his army…they're here for the final battle."

**A/N**:_ Review and I should have Chapter Three out soon!_


	3. Chivalric Code

**A/N**: _Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter! Here's the last chapter for this story!_

**Disclaimer**: _Author owns only plot. Author begs you not to sue. Author thanks you._

**The Final Battle**

**Chapter Three: Chivalric Code**

"Ron," Hermione said, her voice a breathless whisper from the shock. "Ron, they're here. Voldemort and his army…they're here for the final battle."

Ron jumped up from the sofa, running to the window to stand beside Hermione. He looked to the dawn, watching in amazement as still the army grew in size. There were too many to count, too dark to see them clearly yet. Ron and Hermione stood there for a long time, staring in awestruck horror at the sight from the Tower window.

"Ron we have to find Harry," Hermione pleaded. "We have to tell Dumbledore."

He stood stock still. Hermione wondered if he'd even heard her voice. He made no moves or indications that he had.

"Ron? Harry - we have to go and tell him," Hermione pleaded again. Realization seemed to have clicked on this time, but what he said made Hermione stop in her tracks. "You go," he said.

Hermione stared at him jaw open and eyes narrowed in confusion. Then she began to plead with him again, wondering why he wouldn't accompany her. "But Ron -" she started.

"You go," he said again, more firmly this time. "I'll try to wake up everyone in Gryffindor Tower. Go find Harry. Go find Dumbledore, McGonagall, _anyone_!" Then he grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her across the common room to the portrait hole.

"Ron, are you -" Hermione began to say again once she was outside in the corridor. But Ron, his hands already beginning to close the portrait, interrupted her again. "Go Hermione!"

Hermione stood quite still for a moment. Then Ron's words rang through her head, and she was racing down the corridor under Ron's orders. But no sooner had she started running, she realized she didn't know where to find Harry. Her first logical guess would be Dumbledore's office, or maybe the Room of Requirement.

Hermione slowed her pace, looking frantically around, completely unsure of where to go and trying to keep herself out of a panic. Then she heard Professor McGonagall come charging down the hallway. When she spotted Hermione, she yelped and headed straight for her.

"Miss Granger, what are you -" the professor began, but Hermione spoke up quickly.

"Professor, I need to find Harry."

Professor McGonagall paused and blinked at Hermione. She looked slightly shocked and it took her a moment before she answered.

"I do not know where he is, Miss Granger. I was looking for him and the Headmaster myself. Now back to Gryffindor Tower, I haven't the slightest idea what you are doing out of bed so early but surely -"

As Professor McGonagall made to grab Hermione's arm and take her back to the Tower, Hermione backed up out of her reach. McGonagall looked slightly appalled at her behavior, but didn't have time to rebuke her as the girl spoke up again.

"Please professor, it's _important_! Harry was having a lesson with the Headmaster and Ron said Harry never returned to Gryffindor Tower during the night. But I _need_ to find Harry," Hermione explained. McGonagall was again about to say something, probably to say nothing could be so important, but Hermione proved this wrong. "Voldemort is here, Professor. Ron and I just saw the army from out the common room windows."

At this McGonagall clasped a hand to her chest and an audible gasp was heard. Her eyes widened in fear and she looked at Hermione in horror. "Miss Granger," she breathed. "Are you sure?" Hermione could only nod slowly.

And then comprehension seemed to dawn on the professor, and she took her hand from her chest and placed it gently on Hermione's shoulder. "Listen to me Miss Granger, and listen carefully," she said, and her voice was firm unlike her hand that was shaking. "Go back to Gryffindor Tower. I have a good idea of where the Headmaster has taken Harry. Keep your wand out - good girl. Now go, and be on your guard." The last part she said quietly, looking around cautiously.

And with that, the Professor turned and hurried down the hallway back the way she had come, leaving a shaking Hermione in her wake. Hermione held her wand at her side, it's presence a reminder of all the curses, jinxes and hexes she knew and could use. Quickly, she ran back to the Tower, hoping that Ron had awoken a good number of the students.

Not halfway back, she began to see students, apparently panicked and still in dressing gowns, running past her. Most of them seemed to be Gryffindors, but there were occasional Ravenclaws streaming right by her, just as panicked as the rest. Hurrying back, she turned a corner and ran right into a first year student. Stumbling she tried to help the student up but the little boy had got tangled in his robes and his hair was all in his eyes.

"It's alright, I'm a student, let me help you!" Hermione reasoned, but the student backed away, screaming and trying to move his hair.

"No!" he shouted. "Back away from me!" He moved to stand but stumbled again on the back his robes. Hermione noticed they had a Ravenclaw symbol on them.

"I'm a seventh year Gryffindor student and I'm trying to help you!" Hermione shouted back. But the next moment she felt a sharp burn on her arm as the student, blinded by their hair, found their wand and aimed. Hermione shouted out in pain. When she looked back up, the student had already fled away from her.

"Hermione!" a voice called, and she quickly spun back around and found Ron. He was running towards her, seemingly in a panic and there were even more students fleeing behind him.

"Ron! What's going on? All sorts of students, and their panicked -" she began.

"Hermione, it's bad. Real bad," Ron gasped. He put his hands on his knees to catch his breath for a moment.

"What's bad?" she asked, trying to stay calm.

"They're using the Floo Network!" he said, horror evident in his voice. "I was running down from the boys' dormitories, most of 'em was following me, others were getting dressed. I didn't even have time to wake up the girls, when a Death Eater jumped out from the fire place! He's Stunned now, and some fifth year put him in a Body Bind. The girls all heard the commotion, so they know now."

Hermione stared at Ron in horror. Eyes wide, she gasped for breath, unable to fathom the extremities of the entire situation. "They've figured out how to break the wards…"

"I guess so," he answered, just as worried as she was. They stood there another moment, staring at one another with awestruck looks on their faces. More students seemed to be running around the halls now, screaming and shouting and it brought Hermione back to the present.

"Come on, we have to get out of here," Hermione urged. She grabbed his arm and started heading downstairs with him. Ron followed reluctantly at first, but then he came back to his senses and gripped her hand in his as they raced down the stone steps towards the entrance hall.

"Did you find Harry?" he asked, huffing for breath once they had stopped for a moments rest.

Hermione shook her head as they prepared to speed down the next set of stairs. "No. I ran into McGonagall, and she seemed to know where to look." Ron nodded at her answer.

They stopped again on the landing of the third floor, each trying to catch their breath. They were looking around cautiously when they heard yelling from a nearby corridor. Knowing they were near the Library, Hermione snatched the sleeve of Ron's robes and hauled him into the secret passageway nearby. They hid just in time - a student screamed, and they heard two pairs of footsteps run past their hiding spot. They waited until the running feet could no longer be heard and then they emerged.

"That's a Hufflepuff," Ron murmured. Hermione looked where Ron was looking, and she too saw that the student.

"She only looks Stunned," Hermione replied. "I think she'll be ok. Come on," and grabbing Ron's hand, she hauled him towards the next staircase. Running, they noticed that the amount of students awake and running in terror had increased, and they dodged this way and that to avoid colliding with them.

Just as they had reached a throng of Ravenclaws, they heard voices shouting angrily behind them. Pausing, they turned to look and saw three masked people in black robes - Death Eaters.

"The red head and the bushy-haired one!" one of the Death Eaters shouted, pointing at Ron and Hermione. "Get them!"

"RUN!" Ron shouted, and he pushed Hermione in front of him as they ran down a corridor. The pack of students around them fled as well, some following Ron and Hermione, others fleeing downstairs. Hermione turned to look over her shoulder and saw Ron doing the same thing, flinging curses over his shoulder at the stampeding Death Eaters.

Running towards the staircase, Ron and Hermione hurled down them to the angry shouts of their pursuers. "Make sure they don't leave the castle!" one of them shouted. A jet of red light struck the banister where Hermione's hand had just been and she let out a shriek.

"Keep going Hermione, don't look back!" Ron shouted over the other screams surrounding them. Hermione followed Ron's orders and when she reached the second floor she kept running, turning corners and brushing past students. She didn't look back. All she heard were shrieks and her own heavy, panting breath. She didn't stop until she reached the entrance hall. It was then that she realized Ron wasn't following her.

"Ron?" she asked aloud. The hall was empty though, and her voice echoed strangely off the stone. She looked around and saw the semi-grey dawn through the open front doors of the castle. She started to run towards them, but a shout nearby made her stop.

"_Hermione_!" She turned and saw Draco emerging from the dungeon staircases. She turned and ran towards him instead, saying, "I lost Ron and there's an army outside and Death Eaters are using the Floo Network to infiltrate Hogwarts -"

"Hermione, I know," he said once she'd reached him. "They used our common room fire to sneak a whole lot of them in. They told us about the army. You do remember that most of the Slytherin's have family in the Inner Circle, don't you?"

"Yes, of course -" Hermione began, but Draco put his hands on her upper arms and forced her to face him and listen to him.

"Hermione, please, go somewhere safe," Draco said gently. "It's too risky -"

"Draco, I can't!" she declared, trying to break free from Draco's grasp.

"No Hermione! You must listen to me!" His voice was steady and serious, but Hermione would have none of it. She squirmed, trying to push him off of her so she could run outside and find Harry.

"I have to find Harry, Draco!" she nearly screamed. "I have to help him. I need to help, please let me go -"

Draco's hold tightened on her arms and again forced her to face him. "It's too dangerous out there Hermione!"

At this Hermione stopped squirming so much and she looked Draco directly in the eyes. "Is it always going to be so dangerous out there?" she demanded. "Am I always going to have all the boys tell me it's too dangerous to help my friends, and to go for walks with other people? Simply living is dangerous if you think about it, Draco." His grip loosened a little on her arms; Hermione had stopped moving and her words had caught him off guard.

They stood like that, staring at one another for a long moment. Draco knew Hermione had a point. He also knew she knew more spells than half the school combined. It was at the moment that he thought this that her clever nature kicked in, and Hermione broke free from his loosened grasp and made a dash for the open doors.

Draco's first instinct was to yell at her to get back here. This was dumb logic of course, and his second instinct to run after her was better. Hermione didn't even need to look over her shoulder to see if he was following - she knew he was there. He wouldn't let her go out there alone. She ran half-way down the hill that lead to Hagrid's hut, and then looked out on where she had seen the army had gathered earlier.

The morning was still grey and clear. The sun had still not risen completely. Hermione noticed that the army had become scattered, fighting everywhere so that it looked like an ant hill before her. There was still no sign of Voldemort or Harry though. Hermione wondered then if McGonagall had found him or not.

Draco had stopped several feet behind Hermione, and he too was watching the army before them. There were so many, much more than he had ever imagined in his youth. He also knew that there were more of them in the castle, harming students and trying to slow professors from getting here. The wards were broken and they'd be flocking in such large numbers. Help couldn't get here quick enough, unless the Ministry realized quickly that Voldemort had broken the wards surrounding the school.

Draco didn't realize right away that Hermione had turned to look up at him. In the early morning he couldn't make out her features very well, but he could see fear and determination clearly reflecting in her eyes. In that moment Draco knew he couldn't hold her back. He'd have to protect her from afar. He couldn't tell her to stick by his side and forget her friends. She'd never abandon them, she'd never leave them to be harmed. With a simple nod, he watched her return the gesture and run off in the direction of the growing army. He kept his eyes on her until she'd disappeared into the mess, and then he too ran off to fight.

Hermione ran, watching Death Eaters bounding around, noticed how few students were outside. Professors were also few and scattered and she figured they didn't know yet or the Death Eaters who had used the Floo Network had halted them. Whatever the reason, Dumbledore and Harry still didn't seem to have joined the battle yet, and this gave her reason to stress. Hermione wondered over all the noise around her if Aurors would show up, or if they even knew. But in that next moment she stopped thinking about it when she felt a rush of red light brush right by her head.

She ducked and turned, wondering who had shot it when she saw a white Death Eater's mask facing her some few feet away. "Look at the retched mudblood, thinking she can defeat us all," the voice mocked loudly, struggling to be heard over the screams and cries all over the hill. Hermione clenched her wand tighter. The figure took long slow steps toward her, and Hermione quickly backed away. Knowing it was futile to go away in fear when she could strike him, she stopped and raised her wand. Without a second though, she shouted, "_Petrificus Totalus_!"

The Death Eater's arms snapped to his side, as did his legs, and with a single wobble he fell over on his back and stared blankly at the sky. Hermione walked to his side, just next to his head, and looked down at him. "I would have Stunned you," she told him, "but I figured it'd be better to allow you consciousness as you watch a muggleborn witch take down your army."

Kicking a bit of dirt in his face, Hermione ran off, her guard up and her wand held tightly in her hand. She saw Ginny nearby, performing her famous bad-bogey hex on a poor, defenseless Death Eater. Looking around, she hoped to spot Ron somewhere, worried that something had happened to him when they were being chased earlier, yet there was no sign of him.

A Death Eater fell at her feet and she saw two seventh year Hufflepuff's run the other way as another Death Eater went after them. "_Stupefy_!" Hermione shouted, and he stopped, falling flat on his face. The students kept running though, as did Hermione in the other direction.

Suddenly, Hermione spotted Ron ahead, and near him was Draco. Both were each dueling a Death Eater, their backs to each other. Hermione began to run towards them when she felt something trip her and she landed on her arms and knees in the dirt. Her wand flew from her fingers and landed a few feet out of her reach.

She rolled over onto her back just in time. A fiery jet of purple light, so much like the light that had hit her fifth year in the battle at the Department of Mysteries, hit the ground were she had just been lying.

"Clever little mudblood, aren't you?" asked the masked figure. She looked up to see a tall, roughly built Death Eater looming over her. "I'm sure you've heard of a trip jinx? What about pain, do you like the Cruciatus curse? Why don't we find out…_Crucio_!"

Hermione braced herself for the pain, but nothing could have prepared her for what she felt. She screamed; how loud she didn't know. See wondered vaguely if this was how Harry felt when his scar burned. Her body ached, as if she'd just dove into icy water and she was running out of air.

After what felt like minutes the curse was lifted, and Hermione took in gulps of air, panting with the pain the curse had brought. Her body tingled and shook. She rolled onto her stomach to look away from the horrible mask and struggled to get up.

"Down you filthy girl!" the man screamed, and he rammed a boot into her back, forcing her face first into the ground. He kept his foot on her lower back, crushing her spine, and then said, "Beg for it, mudblood! _Crucio_!"

The pain returned ten fold. Hermione tried to scream but only received a mouthful of dirt. Her forehead struck a rock, but she barely registered that pain. Hermione understood now how this curse drove people to insanity. The utter pain she was feeling was excruciating.

All of a sudden, the pressure on her back left, and then Hermione slowly came to realize that the curse had been stopped as well. When she tried to get up she found that her legs wouldn't support her very well, and she stumbled for a moment.

"Give yourself a minute," he replied. She looked up and saw Draco, and then she saw that he had an ugly bruise on his jaw and a bleeding cut on his forehead which looked rather deep. He put out his hand, and in it was her wand.

She took it and began to walk off, still feeling the curses effects coursing through her veins and her heartbeat felt as if it were on high speed. She couldn't stop shaking - it was if she had been electrocuted.

"Hermione, calm down and rest for a - "

"No," she said firmly, smacking back Draco's hand that reached out to pull her back. He reached for her again, succeeded in getting her shoulder, and spun her around to look at him.

Hermione's eyes fell upon the Death Eater who had attacked her. "What did you do to him?" she asked, sounding stricken and her voice shaking slightly. The Death Eater's mask was cracked and his body lay at angles Hermione knew weren't possible.

"That's the result of two spells and a serious kick in the face." Making sure Hermione was actually steady on both her legs, he took her hand and said, "Come on." She struggled to keep in stride with Draco, who kept dodging this way and that through the crowd.

A red jet of light was all of a sudden aimed at their joined hands, and Hermione let out a shriek of shock and took her hand from Draco's. Draco turned to look at Hermione, and then turned to see what she was looking at. A Death Eater was retreating quickly, and Draco pointed his wand and shouted, "_Stupefy_!" The figure flailed his arms, stumbled, and fell with a loud "thud!" to the ground.

Another jet of light, this one green, brushed right by Hermione's surprised face so fast she almost wasn't sure what it was until it struck someone nearby, crumbling them to the ground. Turning, she aimed and she too yelled, "_Stupefy_!" as the Death Eater charged at her. Two more took his place after he had fallen, and it was all Hermione could do to duck as their curses flew over her head.

Hermione stayed close to the ground as she heard two shouts of "_Stupefy_!" from behind her. After their bodies lay sprawled before her, Hermione felt arms lifting her up and found herself face to face with two fellow students of her year, Hufflepuffs Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchy. The two of them look haggard and beaten, but a determined look shone in their eyes. Hermione smiled graciously at them and said, "Thanks."

"No problem Hermione," Hannah replied, and then she and Justin ran off into the battering crowd. It was then that Hermione noticed that Draco wasn't anywhere in sight, which explained why Justin and Hannah had saved her.

Running to avoid being a sitting target, Hermione found herself at the foot of the hill where the army had gathered before dawn. It was at this realization that she finally found Harry, dueling furiously with none other than Voldemort's most beloved female Death Eater, Bellatrix. Hermione was too far away to make out what curses they were shouting, but she could only guess that Dumbledore had been teaching him well, as he ducked and fired with simple ease. Hermione also noticed that Voldemort had not yet appeared.

A sharp kick in the side of her leg brought Hermione's thoughts back to the ongoing battle. As she stumbled to hold herself steady as pain shot up her calf, she heard the attacker mutter, "I'll teach you to petrify me, you rotten little wench!"

Hermione moved to make a run for it, but the man's hand snatched her arm and she stumbled, her knee hitting the ground and scrapping. Roughly, he turned her around so she was facing him, moving his hand to grasp her on her upper arm. He shook her, seeing if she could escape, and with the effects of earlier curses still boggling her mind, Hermione went dizzy and her wand slipped from her free hand.

The Death Eater poised his wand at her chest, relishing in the fact that her eyes were unfocused and rolling around in her head. "'_Kill the mudblood_,' those were the orders we were given." He pulled her closer, until his wand tip was pushed roughly into her chest and Hermione's senses were awakened slightly by his putrid breath on her face. "It'll be my pleasure to follow those orders, standing here and watching the savior boy's wretched whore die in my hands! _Avada_ -"

But before he could finish, Hermione had kneed him hard in the groin. The Death Eater slumped to the ground, a small squeak of pain the only noise he made. Even without her wand, Hermione had found an advantage at being so close to him, once she had been able to focus again.

Placing her foot on his chest, she kicked him backwards into the dirt and listened as he howled in pain again. Snatching her wand from the ground, she was about to prepare to flee again when a loud crack and an audible gasp passed through the crowd. Hermione turned and looked to the hilltop and noticed that Voldemort had just Apparated onto Hogwarts ground. Hermione's jaw dropped in shock.

"You seem surprised, little filth," the kneed Death Eater choked out. He was still sprawled on the ground, both of his hands protecting weak spots from more pain. "The Dark Lord is more powerful than your pathetic savior boy will ever be. Face it, you will lose mudblood. He has broken the strongest wards ever made and now he will finish off that wretched brat -"

"Don't make me petrify you again," Hermione threatened. She turned to glare at him, noticing that he said nothing at her statement. She watched him for a moment, his eyes daring her to do something to him. She glared back, and then suddenly noticed his sight dart over her shoulder and back to her again. As quick as she could, she turned, wand aimed, and shouted, "_Stupefy_!" at the advancing Death Eater. When she turned back around though, she found the kneed Death Eater already on his feet, his own wand pointed at her heart as she pointed her wand at him as well.

"Try it," he growled, walking closer to her. "I'll kill you before you can do a thing." Hermione stood defiantly still, her own wand never wavering as they stared each other down. She knew this was the end; the gleam in his eyes behind the mask told her so. Her wand was only pointing at his arm, and although held steady, there was very little damage one could do to an arm.

Fear gripped her, and she knew he would do it. He'd kill her right here on the battlefield. Malicious and cold-hearted, that was what he was. In a second she'd be dead, and with that though in her mind, Hermione lifted herself straighter.

The Death Eater gave a vicious smile. "Welcoming death bravely I see. Good girl, that'll make it easier for the both of us. So long mudblood," he commended, smirking the entire time.

"_STUPEFY_!" came a shout from behind the Death Eater. His eyes became unfocused and he crumbed before her feet, black robes billowing out around him making it look like he was deflating. Hermione, trembling from the shock, looked up to see that her savior was a very surprised looking Neville.

"_Neville_!" Hermione shrieked. As she struggled to climb over the discarded body at her feet, Neville moved closer, reaching out his hands to help her over, which Hermione gladly accepted. "Neville, thank-you, oh thank-you so much!" Hermione gushed, causing Neville to blush.

"He was going to kill you, he was!" Neville reasoned. "And Harry and Ron wouldn't be too happy if I stood there like a coward and let you die. It'd be a right shame if I did that."

"That was very brave of you Neville, thank-you," Hermione said again. She could just imagine the looks on Harry and Ron's faces if they could have seen Neville save her. Even Draco would have been impressed.

Looking up at the hill, Hermione noticed that Harry was no longer fighting Bellatrix. Ron was doing so now, and for someone who hadn't been training as hard as Harry, he fought just as well as him. Harry and Voldemort had moved further up the hill, high atop it now, and they became hard to see with the rising sun behind them. Hermione felt a surge of panic.

"We have to go help them!" Neville cried, and just as they were about to go run up the hill, two Death Eaters fired spells in their direction. Hermione and Neville turned, looking for the attackers and found a third was ranking in on them as well.

"Duck!" Hermione shouted as a curse flew in their direction. Neville's reflexes made him jump to the side, and a moment later he had stunned one of the Death Eaters. The others continued to advance on them, and Hermione and Neville backed up slowly.

"Go Hermione!" Neville shouted at her. Hermione looked at Neville in shock. Then she turned to where Ron and Harry were, a longing look on her face. "They need you Hermione, go help them!"

"Neville, are you sure -?" Hermione started to say, but Neville waved her away as the Death Eaters got closer.

"They need your help! _Go_!" Hermione placed a gentle hand on Neville's arm in thanks and ran off, not looking back in fear of what she might see left of such a brave man. Hermione had a hard time getting up the hill though, not because it was steep, but it was littered everywhere with bodies, mostly those of the Death Eaters, stunned and unconscious.

As Hermione stumbled over a body, she looked up in time to see Bellatrix and Ron's duel reach a fever pitch. Hermione still wasn't close enough to hear clearly, and the noise below didn't help. Falling as her foot slipped on the hills incline, Hermione slid and landed flat on her stomach, her face turned up the battle atop the hill. Suddenly, she saw a green jet of light shoot from Bellatrix's wand and hit Ron square in the chest. Ron's determined face from earlier was replaced with shock and surprise, as he fell backwards and lay motionless.

"_RON_!" Hermione screamed. She didn't know why she'd screamed his name - surely he was going to get up. He hadn't been hit, he was fine, of course he was. When he didn't though, Hermione pushed herself up from the ground as hard as she could and ran to him, knowing he'd be perfectly alright when she got to his side.

But Bellatrix was cackling, the high-pitched voice stilling the morning air that shone pale. Harry had turned long enough to see what had made her so triumphant. Hermione slipped again, and with a cry of pure rage and emotion, she looked at Ron's still form and screamed again until her throat was burned. Clawing at the earth with her fingers, she tried again and again to get up and go to Ron. She had to, he was alright, she had to prove it…

Something solid hit Hermione on the side of the head. The sudden blow from the rock caused her vision to become unfocused and Hermione, already on her hands and knees in the dirt, swayed to the side and laid there, her head throbbing. Everything seemed to be spinning in color -

"Up you mudblood filth!" roared a voice, and in the next instant she felt hands on the back of her robes hauling her up to stand. The pain in her head caused her to nearly fall over again. A voice next to her laughed cruelly.

"Stand you retch!" and Hermione distantly noticed that it was a different voice from the first one who had spoken.

Hermione, her head still throbbing, was able to steady herself a little. Her sight better, she noticed that there was not two Death Eaters, but four surrounding her. A moment of panic swept through her, wishing that she had even Neville by her side. The four Death Eaters tightened the circle around her now that she was conscience.

"Beg for pain mudblood!" one of them shouted. Another to her right pushed her, and as she went soaring sideways, she was pushed again, and then again, so that she had very little balance. When she stumbled they pushed her upright again. Even when she lost her footing they would push her. Finally, Hermione fell at their feet, her head aching and a dizziness coming over her.

"One down, and two more to kill before the sun even rises completely over the hill!" An evil laugh followed this, and then the pain was back again. She hadn't even heard the curse spoken, but she screamed; her body was on fire and her head felt as if it would explode. This was the third time now; she had had the Cruciatus curse performed on her three times now, and it hurt. She wanted to die and never feel this pain again. The curse caused her to feel not only the pain from the curse but all the bruises she'd received during the battle.

He didn't stop the curse. Hermione wondered if he planned to actually kill her or just drive her to the brink of insanity. Either one was a horrible fate, she surmised. Hermione wasn't even sure she was screaming anymore.

Again, Hermione felt the curse ebbing away and guessed it had been lifted. She looked around slowly, her vision ridiculously blurred and hazy. She vaguely noticed a stunned Death Eater, and another that had its own boogies attacking him. Hermione was able to remember that that curse was Ginny's specialty when she suddenly heard the red-haired girl screaming next to her.

"Leave her alone or I'll get you next!" Hermione pushed herself onto her hands and knees, her body shaking and aching so much.

"You little wretch!" one of them shouted, but Ginny shouted "_Stupefy_!" and an unceremonious thudding noise told Hermione he was down.

"Come on Hermione, get up, please," Ginny was pleading. "I got three of them, but more are coming! I can't hold them all back on my own, please Hermione…"

Hermione saw her wand next to her hand and grabbed for it. Clinging to Ginny's leg, Hermione dragged herself slowly to her feet, her body ravaged and sore. Hermione, noticing a black robe charging at her from the corner of her eye, aimed and hit him, slamming him to the ground. Her next spell missed, and Hermione was forced to jump out of the way.

Ginny kicked an approaching Death Eater in the leg. When he bent to rub the pain, she kicked him in the face, cracking his mask into pieces that stuck into his skin. Another Death Eater was right behind him, and before Hermione could yell for Ginny to get down, a jet of blue light knocked Ginny to the ground, where she lay unconscious.

"Ginny!" Hermione shrieked, but she had no time to check on her. Instead, she ran a few away from her body, luring the Death Eaters away so they wouldn't harm Ginny further. It worked, and Hermione found herself going up the hill, closer to where Ron and Harry were. She couldn't tell if Harry was still dueling, and she had no time to turn around and check as she flung curses at the pursuing Death Eaters. There were so many all of a sudden that it began to feel hopeless.

As if a storm had arrived, a gust of wind blew past them that nearly knocked Hermione off of her feet. Dirt and sediment caused her to shield her eyes, and Hermione could no longer make out shouts and screams over the strong gust. Facing away from the top of the hill, Hermione out her back to the wind and put her arms over her head.

In the next moment, she was able to make out a cracking noise, as if someone was Apparating. Yet, the cracking went on for a long time, and underneath that sound was a painful, unearthly scream that continued on and on. Suddenly, a stronger gust blew past her, putting her hair in her face and twirling her robes around her legs. Hermione could taste the dirt in her mouth, but it was useless to spit it out.

Slowly the wind died down. Hermione unshielded her face, slowly peering over her shoulder. She froze again, looking up to the top of the hill where a solitary figure stood.

It was Harry, a black silhouette against the newly risen sun beyond the hill. He looked ethereal in the sunlight, the orange and red of the sky behind him making look like a shadow in blood. Hermione felt short of breath at the sight of seeing him alive.

Slowly, she turned so that her entire body faced him. She could still clearly feel the effects of the three Cruciatus curses, tingling through-out her body. She stared at her friend standing on the hilltop, as if he was a statue. Harry's eyes were on where Ron lay unmoving.

She wanted to call out to Harry. She wanted to see if he was okay, to tell him they'd won and he'd done it and everything was all over now. But words escaped her as she stared at him in the dawns light. The pain and the emotion inside her welled up and she wasn't so sure she'd be standing much longer. Harry was alive. And Ron…Hermione thought back to the conversation they had been having when she saw the army not a few hours earlier. '_Oh god Ron, I'm so sorry'_, Hermione thought.

A sudden voice came up from behind her. "Hermione?" It was Draco.

Her body torn and shutting down in pain, she slowly turned to look at him behind her. When she saw his face, it was full of concern, worry, blood…and something else. She couldn't tell through the hazy fog blocking her mind.

"Hermione?" Draco asked again, taking a step toward her. It was then that she fainted.

* * *

Before Hermione had opened her eyes she could hear all sorts of noises that sounded nothing like a battle. There was lots of crying now, and soothing voices and commands to take potions. But when Hermione tried to open her eyes, the light hurt too much.

"Where am I?" she managed to choke out softly, wondering if anyone was even nearby to answer her. Surprisingly, she received a quick reply.

"You're in the hospital wing," Draco's voice answered. Blinking to get used to the light, Hermione fluttered her eyes open and indeed saw Draco. White curtains were surrounding her bed, leaving her and Draco in unmistaken privacy.

"Does anyone know you're - ?"

" - in here talking to you? No." As Hermione's eyes became used to the light, she could see that Draco had been bandaged up. The cut on his forehead was fixed and no longer bleeding dangerously. He wore a grim and exhausted look on his face though.

"Where is…?" she started to ask, but wasn't sure if she meant to ask about Harry or Ron. Draco answered her anyway.

"Harry is being bandaged up now. He defeated the Dark Lord." There was a pause. Draco didn't seem willing to go further.

"And Ron?" she asked, her voice cracking. She became very afraid to hear the real answer. The truth scared her, and it scared her more once she saw the look Draco got on his face when she asked. He swallowed, unsure of how to tell her. His fingers fiddled with her bed sheets, and Hermione was only patient because she lacked the strength to throttle him.

"Hermione, he…he didn't…He's dead Hermione." Draco didn't have the strength to look at her. His fingers continued to play with her blanket. Hermione could only sit there, trying to fathom of the truth of the situation, willing herself to ultimately believe it. _Ron was gone_.

Before she could begin to cry, or scream, or react in anyway, Draco said something else. "I'm leaving Hermione."

Hermione wasn't sure what he meant at first. Leaving? To where? They were all about to leave Hogwarts, that was true. What exactly did he mean by 'leaving?'

"What?" It sounded funny, that one word, hoarse and accusing coming from her mouth, but she wasn't sure what he was trying to say.

"I'm leaving. Right now, actually." He continued to play with her blanket. "There're a lot of things I have to do…its better if I go."

"I don't understand…" she said slowly. Draco finally looked up at her face. Hermione looked past the dried dirt and blood on his face and gazed into his eyes. Those grey eyes were so hard to read, but Hermione knew if she looked hard enough he'd give her answers. He had let her see inside them before, allowed her to see a real part of him. But this time he held strong. She had been locked out now. There was now something inside him he wished to hide, even from her…something that he was afraid of.

"I'm going away." He said nothing else.

"Where exactly are you going?" her voice was becoming strained, and it was hard to talk.

Draco didn't avert his eyes at all, but when he spoke, his voice was soft. "I don't belong here."

She grabbed his hand, stopping him from playing with the blanket and looked at him for a long moment. "That's rubbish!"

"It is not," he replied.

"But things are different now Draco! You and I - "

"No, Hermione…"

It was then that she understood. Things were indeed different now. But none of that mattered. After all that had happened, Hermione knew the truth. And it was ugly, and it was cruel, and it hurt. Draco had witnessed a close friend of hers die. Hermione knew he was afraid not of his death, but of someone close to his heart dying.

Draco made to stand up, but Hermione still had his hand in hers and wouldn't let go. Chocking back tears that burned the back of her eyes, she looked at him, pleading with him not to leave her like this when she was in pain. Draco walked over to the side of the bed, his hand still gripped by Hermione's, and he gently placed a kiss on her forehead, just beneath the bandages.

Without another word, he left. As he pushed aside the curtain, he was nearly run into Ginny and Harry, both of who had been bandaged but not entirely cleaned up. Ginny had tear stains on her cheeks, and her eyes were puffy and red. Harry looked angry, but there was something beneath the surface, a saddened but victorious look. He'd gotten revenge for his parents, but at the cost of his best friend…

Ginny didn't even notice Draco as she rushed in. She ran right to Hermione's side and looked her over. Hermione, distracted by Ginny, didn't notice the look that passed between the Draco and Harry. Just as Draco began to walk away, Madam Pomfrey came over, complaining loudly about the amount of potions she was running low on and that she was out of bandages. She moved the curtains away from Hermione's bed and placed them around another one.

"Oh, Hermione, are you ok?" Ginny gushed. Ginny's left arm was in a sling and there was a purple potion under her right eye. She began to smooth down the bed covers and fluff up Hermione's pillow with her free hand. Hermione though, was paying no attention to Ginny's actions. She was watching Draco walk away, the tears she felt silently slipping down her checks and into her sheets.

When Draco reached the door he stopped. Slowly he turned and looked, staring one last time at where Hermione lay, surrounded by caring friends who cared and showed it. Friends who could relate to her pain.

Ginny looked up then and saw the wet trail of tears on Hermione's checks. "Hermione?" she said gently. "Are you alright?"

Hermione watched as Draco vanished out of sight. As he left, Hermione felt the overall pain in her chest heave, and still not looking at Ginny or Harry, she replied, "Yes. Yes, I'm fine."

**A/N**: _The end of this story. Thank-you for reading. Please Review!_


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